Associate Editor Akiko Ashley was at SIGGRAPH 2017 this year and covered the top-level events, sessions, and presentations. This first report focuses on the “theme” elements apparent at this year’s computer graphics conference and exhibition.

Why are VR and AR companies taking root in the LA area? What is the state of the union in portability with graphics APIs so that the most apps can be written to the most platforms? These are some of the core questions Architosh is asking as it heads into the exciting week ahead with SIGGRAPH 2017.

Khronos Group makes further positive momentum with Vulkan API, but Apple is missing from the roster of industry supporters. This is an early signal that Apple may be pushing for Metal for Mac’s graphic future as aging OpenGL lingers as available cross-platform API.

This latest expansion gives Vulkan the next generation graphics API from Khronos high-efficiency access to graphics and provides applications direct control over GPU accelaration for maximized performance and predictability. The new OpenGL® ES 3.2 specification absorbs AEP functionality to enhance pervasive graphics capabilities across mobile, consumer and automotive devices. As for OpenGL Extensions, one of its greatest strengths is that it was designed to be readily extensible to accommodate new hardware innovations.

Apple said that its new proprietary Metal graphics API will move from iOS to Mac OS X. This move comes as expected and matches Microsoft’s efforts to allow programmers to program “to the metal” with less abstraction and driver overhead, freeing the GPU to unwind its true hardware powers. The net result is super-charged graphics performance. This move bodes well for OS X but will force developers to choose between an array of new and closed graphics standards.

Khronos Group, the stewards of computer industry open standards like OpenGL and WebGL, have announced the Vulkan, a next-generation graphics API system and replacement to industry-standard and leading OpenGL and OpenGL ES.